Napoleon's Rule - Research Paper Example

Napoleon’s Rule Introduction The objective of a historian is to gain insight into the realities and ideas which shaped the lives of men and women of past societies, and not collection of facts as is the common misconception. Studying people from past societies allows us to discover the rich diversity of human experience even though some of the institutions and beliefs may seem strange to us. Studying history involves looking into desires and beliefs, institutions and practices of human beings; these give us an insight into the problems, values, ideas and the foundation of modern institutions. In essence, history lets us know how we came to be who we are and makes it possible for us to get a new perception of the world from different eyes. An awareness of there being these different perceptions allows students to carry out a critical analysis of their own society and culture and acknowledge and critique their own assumptions.1 This essay seeks to look into Napoleon 1 who was an influential, prominent military and political icon that rose to power during the later times of the French Revolution. There will be a wealth of information provided to readers on this renowned leader and this will shed light on various dynamics that define the present political scene. The French Revolution and Napoleon are of major importance to history because they brought about the modern warfare as it came to be referred to in the nineteenth and twentieth century. They signify the transition from small, well-trained armies of the king to huge armies brought up by universal male enlistment of nations. The war shifted from being king in opposition to king to being nation in opposition to nation. France and all the satellite states it controlled had their resources availed to King Napoleon for use in waging war and this saw the ground work for war being set in the nineteenth century for a full-on war in the twentieth century.2 The end of dominant monarchies in addition to churches and the emerging of democracy and patriotism are attributed to the French Revolution, it brought on popular repugnance to the privileges that benefited the clergy and aristocracies at a time when there was also an economic crisis. The French Revolution is seen as a turning point event that changed Europe once and for all following in the pace of the American Revolution that had taken place a decade earlier.3 There had been seven years of war prior to the French Revolution and this had a profound effect on the French and they became restless as well as making the Western world volatile. The wars resulted in an economic crisis as the costs of maintaining the army, supporting allies and waging war depleted the French treasury at a time when it was by then weak due to royal extravagance.4 Napoleon the First Having three forms of identification- Napoleon the First, Napoleon the French Emperor or Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon was of Italian descent and not French and he was born in 1762. He was sent to a military boarding school at the age of 10 and this was where he got a taste of power where he would plan out intricate strategies in snowball tussles. He was always ridiculed for having a heavy Corsican accent as well as a small body frame by his classmates. Initially, Napoleon desired to be a Commander of the British Navy and as such enrolled in the naval school and during the first month of attending school he resolved to learn about artillery. He completed the 2 or 3 year course in just a year and graduated in September 1785; subsequently, he was given the position of second lieutenant. His first victory came during the Siege of Tulon where he was able to find a hill within no time and use it take control the harbor and push the British away from the port. He received the rank of Brigadier General and handed control of the artillery in Italy following this victory. The complete level of his military genius came to be seen originally in October 1795 when Paris was under attack from the royalists. The streets being filled with over ten thousand military soldiers, Napoleon positioned heavy artillery on the buildings’ rooftops and shot out grapes into the crowd which eliminated 1400 royalists5. Napoleon got married in March 1796 to Josephine de Beauharnias and two days following his marriage he departed Italy and headed for Paris to conquer the army of Italy. Having run out of supplies, being tired, hungry and weak, the Italian army came to be led by Napoleon for about a year. During this time, Napoleon was able to capture 150,000 soldiers, 540 cannons along with 170 standards. He then went back to France and began to form a plan of how he would take over England. Following two months of planning, Napoleon settled on taking over Egypt as he realized that the Navy was not ready to take on the Royal Navy. The invasion of Egypt happened in May 1798 where he able to seize the nation and break trade relations between Britain and India. During his conquest of Egypt, Napoleon was accompanied by a group of 167 scientists to look into and learn more about the Egyptian customs and history. In June 1798, Napoleon took over Malta a small island at the centre of the Mediterranean and the Commander in charge of the Prussian Naval Base at that time gave up to Napoleon a significant naval base and Napoleon lost 3 men. At this time, the British Royal Navy was pursuing him but he was able to elude their capture and landed in Alexandria in July 1798. Napoleon’s troops were outnumbered 3 to 1 when the French initiated the Battle of the Pyramids in just seven days of his landing at Alexandria. In the end, however, he did prevail in the battle and lost 300 French army men only. The significant thing during this battle was the fact that his army managed to kill 6000 Egyptian troops.6 In August 1799, Horatio Nelson a British Admiral set out an attack on Napoleon’s fleet where he was able to leave Napoleon with only two ships. Napoleon’s Navy was destroyed and he lost his hold in the Mediterranean Sea although his army on land had provisionally increased. His conquest of the coastal towns signified a memorable battle where he won and captured 1400 prisoners and they were executed by drowning or by bayonet in order to save on bullets. For the next 3 days, local people were killed. Napoleon ordered a retreat as the French army had been weakened by the Bubonic Plague so he had all the wounded and sick killed by poison in order to avoid slowing down his army. Napoleon travelled back to France by ship and left Jean Baptiste Kleber in command of his troops.7 Napoleon the First Consul of France During election of First Consul of France, Joseph Sieyes was among the four people vying for the position but he was outthought by Napoleon who wrote the Constitution of the Eighth Year. This document secured Napoleon the position of First Consul and with that he became the most powerful man in France and possibly in Europe. Napoleon’s superiority as a leader was evidenced by his creation of a higher education structure, central banking structures, sewer structures in addition to a tax structure. He also went on to develop the Napoleonic Code which was essentially a code of civil laws and after this he declared himself the First Consul of France for life.8 Having been a ruler of France since 1802, he became the First Consul throughout his existence that was entitled to choose his successor. There was Second and Third Consul but they were under Napoleon and this kind of hereditary empire was meant to discourage restoration of Bourbon. Moreover, monarchial rule was entrenched in France just as the Catholic Church was and Napoleon sought to rest on the two. His regime came to be described as a dictatorship of the centre where the extremes of the left and right were shunned in favor of the majority.9 Upon finding out about an assassination attempt on his life, Napoleon Bonaparte had the Duke of Enghien killed, regardless of the fact that he was not involved. His intention was to exhibit the full extent of his control and so on December 1804 at Norte Dame Chapel in Paris he resolved to give himself the title of Emperor Napoleon the First. Furthermore, he took away the crown from the Pope at the time and gave him to himself and his wife. In May 1805, he went ahead to pronounce himself Ruler of Italy he also crowned himself King of Italy and to help support his empire, he put together 18 marshals and this made it official in Europe that he was the new world power.10 The Third Coalition versus Napoleon Austria, Russia and England made up the Third Coalition and at this time Napoleon’s Navy was blocked off by the British so Napoleon sought to trick them in order to facilitate their escape. He proceeded to make the British believe he was taking over the West Indies making him direct his alliances in Spain to corner them and this made it possible for his fleet to get away. Once they had gotten away, he led his armies into Germany and cornered the Austrian army; he was then able to seize 30,000 prisoners. Afterwards, Napoleon utilized his division tactics when he spotted a flaw at the nattle of Ulm. He noticed that Austria’s army was spread out over an extended space of land, and so Napoleon started to break up his army into five groups and this allowed his army to conquer all the battles they encountered. Being 250 miles away from Austria and making use of the old Calendar type, this signified a flaw in Russia and thus Napoleon was able to attack them. Napoleon’s separation tactics allowed him to defeat the united forces of Russia and Austria one and a half month later. Having defeated their forces, Napoleon was able to force the Third Coalition into getting into the peace treaties.11 The Fourth Coalition, Peninsula War and the Fifth Coalition Consisting of England, Russians and Prussians, the Fourth Coalition came into being a year after the defeat of the Third Coalition. The Russians and Polish were the only two coalitions that fought Napoleon although in the battle of Jena-Auerstedt Napoleon along with his Grand Army overpowered the Prussians. Then, Napoleon forced Russia back through Poland and went on to attack them which allowed him to take over minor states of Germany. Having control over Germany, Napoleon settled on putting one of his six brothers on one of the German thrones. Being against Spain and Portuguese, the Peninsula War came to happen because Portugal failed to comply with Napoleon’s Continental System. This was a system developed in an attempt to prevent Britain from trading in mainland Europe and thus surrender to Napoleon. He went on to invade Spain and took over and made one of his brothers an emperor of Spain. This resulted in a revolt by Spain forcing the French army to back out. On hearing the news, Napoleon joined his army and led them to victory; the war ended in 1814 when Napoleon was banished. In April 1809, the Fifth Coalition came to being and consisted of the British and Austrians when the latter decided they were no longer allies of Napoleon. Initially, Napoleon’s army lost but the Austrians failed to advance and this gave Napoleon a chance to regroup his army and defeat them towards the end of July.12 Conclusion In May 1821, Napoleon passed on from stomach cancer while in exile where his last words were his country, army, head of the army and his wife. This depicts his enthusiasm and dedication to his military duty as France and Army were the first of his last words. Napoleon envisaged the period of Enlightenment, which was highlighted by King Louis the seventieth who held his position because it was a divine right stopped being seen as such. Even though his progression from republican to emperor did not have much difference, he represented an ideology that encompassed both republicanism and dictatorship. He was indeed a military genius as evidenced by his conquests as well as modes of warfare. Bibliography Rampolla, Mary Lynn. A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, Seventh Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2012. McKay, John, Hill, Bennett, Buckler, John, Crowston, Clare, Weisner-Hanks, Merry & Perry, Joe. Understanding Western Society: A Brief History, Volume 2: From The Age of Exploration to the Present. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2012. Gallaher, John G. "The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1792-1815." The Journal of Military History 2007. 71 (2): 525-526. Flynn, Matthew, Griffin, Stephen. “Washington &Napoleon: Leadership in the Age of Revolution.” Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2011. Englund, Steven. “Napoleon and Hitler.” Journal of The Historical Society, 2006. 6: 151–169. Brier, Bob. “Napoleon in Egypt.” Archaeology. 1999. 52, no. 3:44-53. Arnold, Eric A. "The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte." History 2001. 30 (1): 23-24. Cavendish, Richard. "Napoleon is Crowned Emperor of the French." History Today 2004. 54 (12): 52. Read More